New Eden (episode)
A new signal appears, prompting Stamets' emotional return to the mycelial network and leading Burnham, Pike, and Owosekun to a pre-warp planet, where they face a complex ethical dilemma. Tilly's over-eagerness lands her in trouble but when the planet – and Discovery s landing party – are threatened, her curiosity may be the one thing that can save them. Summary Teaser :"As a child, I had what my mother called nightmares. She taught me to control my fear by drawing it, rendering fear powerless. The nightmares have returned. The same vision, again and again. I now understand its meaning and where it must lead me. In the event of my death, I have encoded it within this audio file. This may be my last entry aboard the ''Enterprise." Aboard the , Michael Burnham reviews Spock's last log entry with Christopher Pike, explaining that she had taken the drawing table he had kept since he was a child to show what she had found. Spock had drawn a map of the red bursts' signals two months before they had even appeared; Pike calls up the Starfleet rendering of the signals, showing it to be virtually identical to Spock's drawing. Burnham emphasizes that they need to contact Spock and ask him about the signals, to which Pike explains that a week after he took leave, Spock was committed to the psychiatric unit at Starbase 5 at his own request, and that he did not wish his family to be informed. However, his connection to the signals outweighs his desire for privacy in Pike's judgment, and he suggests Burnham extend an olive branch. Burnham does not believe Spock would accept the overture from her, as they have not spoken in years. Pike understands how complicated family dynamics are, as his father was a science teacher who taught comparative religion, leading to a "confusing household" in which they didn't often agree. Pike has shared everything he knows about Spock, and invites Burnham to tell him anything she thinks he needs to know. Thinking back to the angelic figure she saw on the asteroid, she considers telling him about it... before saying that she did not properly thank him for rescuing her. Just then, Saru calls Pike to the bridge, explaining that they have detected another signal, and that Ensign Sylvia Tilly had the notion of pinpointing the signal. Tilly explains that she modulated the ship's deflector dish to let out gravimetric distortion that would act like SONAR. Burnham concurs, adding that if they were closer, they would be able to detect gravitational redshift and use long-range sensors to find the coordinates, and suggests briefly going to warp. Pike orders Keyla Detmer to go to maximum warp for five seconds. As the ''Discovery drops out of warp, Burnham pinpoints the signal in the Beta Quadrant, 51,450 light years away, which would take 150 years to reach at maximum warp. Saru suggests the spore drive would do the job, but explains that Starfleet Command ordered it decommissioned until a non-Human interface to replace Paul Stamets could be found. Discovering the source of the signals was of the utmost importance to the Federation, and Pike believes Starfleet will grant dispensation just as they did during the war. In engineering, Stamets explains to Tilly that when he was trapped inside the mycelial network, he saw Hugh Culber after had killed him, and was afraid that he would see him there again. Despite this, he makes the jump successfully, then storms out of the engine room. : Discovery enters orbit of a ringed class M planet, but just as with the asteroid, there is no sign of the signal. Burnham reports no signs of power sources or warp signatures in the area, then reports Human life signs on the surface, much to the surprise of the crew, as Humans were not known to have settled this far into the Beta Quadrant. Communications Officer R.A. Bryce reports a transmission coming from the surface, and the audio makes clear that the signal is some kind of distress call. Pike orders red alert. Pinpointing the source of the distress call, they find a small settlement with no apparent signs of struggle. Burnham confirms that there are no other power or warp signatures other than their own. Saru examines the transmission and finds it has been set on a loop for two hundred years – before Humans had developed warp drive. Act One Burnham reveals that the arrival of the Humans on the planet directly coincides with World War III, a nuclear holocaust which had killed six hundred million people and destroyed most of Earth's governments. Saru pinpoints the transmission to a church in one of the settlements. Pike is emphatic that they must have arrived through interstellar travel, yet Burnham indicates that while there are eleven thousand people in ten separate settlements on the planet, not one of them shows any signs of even using electricity. As their society is thus considered a pre-warp civilization, they are subject to General Order One, the Prime Directive. Nonetheless, Pike wonders why the signal would beckon the Discovery there, quoting Hamlet ("There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio..."). When Burnham questions whether Pike believes the people were brought there by divine intervention, Pike replies with a reinterpretation of Clarke's Third Law – that any advanced extraterrestrial intelligence was indistinguishable from God. In order to find out more, however, they would have to beam down; in addition to herself and Pike, Burnham suggests Joann Owosekun, as she had grown up in a Luddite collective on Earth. In the shuttlebay, Tilly approaches the asteroid fragment, with her personal shielding phase locked with the gravity simulator, the computer warning her that any change in the gravimetric stability would cause an explosion. Tilly's scans show that the asteroid is charged with metreon particles, and that a cubic centimeter of the asteroid would weigh 1.5 metric tons. As she activates her laser core sampler with its internal artificial gravity, a fragment floats out of the radius of the gravity simulator and flattens her worktable. The computer detects a metreon fluctuation and advises terminating the project, but Tilly refuses; metreon-charged dark matter is the only solution to finding a replacement interface for the spore drive. She secures a core sample, which releases an energy discharge that hurls Tilly across the shuttlebay, knocking her unconscious. Meanwhile, Pike, Burnham, and Owosekun beam to the surface and enter the church. The stained glass windows are two centuries old and show the symbols of many of Earth's religions, indicating that the people created their own religion based on those faiths. Pike also explains they were used to tell the stories for those who could not read. As Burnham seems to recognize a figure in one of the windows, a man named Jacob enters, demanding to know why they are not working in the fields. Maintaining their cover, Pike identifies himself and his landing party by their first names only, and explains they come from the north. Jacob brings them to the All-Mother, Amesha, at a prayer gathering that night. Amesha tells the story of the First Saved, the soldiers and civilians who hid in the church during World War III and were rescued by an "angel", "surrounded by pillars of fire" as Amesha relates it. The "angel" brought the church and its survivors to the planet which they called Terralysium, settling in their colony of New Eden, and solving the problem of their religious diversity by combining their faiths. Burnham, who suggests her religion is science, asks for explanations for how they got there; Amesha explains that Jacob and have worked to restore the church's lights, while Jacob also mentions that he had a camera from a soldier's helmet from the time of the First Saved, but it was broken and no one had the technology to fix it. Pike asks Amesha if he and his companions could shelter in the church, to which she agrees. Tilly awakens in sickbay to find a nervous engineering ensign fretting about her condition, explaining she had found her unconscious in the shuttlebay. As Tilly attempts to rise, Saru and Dr. Tracy Pollard enter. Saru rebukes Tilly for attempting to examine the asteroid by herself, which put the ship at risk and nearly got her killed (the latter of which is sarcastically confirmed by Dr. Pollard). This has not jeopardized Tilly's place in the Command Training Program, but Saru warns that further reckless behavior may well do so. Tilly explains that she was trying to get a sample of the asteroid to help Stamets, in order to create the replacement interface for the spore drive. Saru is sympathetic, as Tilly is the youngest candidate accepted into the CTP, and like himself being the only Kelpien in Starfleet, she feels she has to take on greater risk to prove herself. He warns her to take better care than he did, before he is called to the bridge. Tactical Officer Gen Rhys reports increasing levels of ionizing radiation in Terralysium's upper atmosphere, which Detmer attributes to a disruption in the gravitational stability of the planet's outermost ring. The level of radiation is so high that in approximately 64 minutes it will envelop the planet in nuclear winter, causing an extinction level event. The radiation is interfering with transporters and communication, leaving them unable to communicate with or retrieve Pike's landing party. Arriving at that moment, Stamets adds that the ionized carbon exhaust of a shuttle's engines would cause a feedback loop that would accelerate the process, and that the people on the planet below likely cannot see the outer ring and won't know what is coming. Saru deduces that perhaps this is what the signal was for – to bring them to the planet to prevent the cataclysm – and orders the crew to get to work. Act Two Pike, Burnham, and Owosekun descend into the basement of the church to shut down the signal so that no one else would bother them. As Owosekun goes to disable the transmitter, Burnham confronts Pike, asking if he intends to leave the people behind, to leave them believing that Earth is destroyed and they were rescued by divine intervention. Pike replies that as they did not arrive by starship, the Prime Directive applies; Human or otherwise, he will not interfere with their development. Owosekun finds the transmitter, and realizes that it has been jury-rigged to continue transmitting. Jacob then arrives, explaining that he was descended from the scientists among the First Saved, and that he and his ancestors had maintained the beacon in the hopes of being found. They believed that Earth had survived, that there were other Humans out there. Though Pike tries to explain that he is mistaken, Jacob is not convinced; when they try to leave, Jacob uses a stun grenade to knock them out, and takes their utility bags with their phasers, tricorders, and communicators, then locks them in the basement. Owosekun is able to manipulate the sliding bolt of the door lock to get them out; Pike emphasizes that they are still bound by the Prime Directive, and are not to break cover for any reason. In sickbay, Tilly paces anxiously, a PADD in her hand, trying to work on calculations to prevent the catastrophe. She is interrupted by the ensign she saw earlier, asking if she can help. Using her friend, whom she recognizes as "May", as a sounding board, Tilly explains she has run models using the ship's tractor beam to pull the particles away from the planet, but both realize that Discovery cannot put out a graviton beam of sufficient power. Suddenly, Tilly comes on the idea of using the asteroid, remembering the incident with her worktable, and immediately rushes out of sickbay (and in a slight circle) to the bridge. There, with less than five minutes before the wave reaches the planet, Rhys suggests using the phasers to destroy the debris, to which Airiam counters that it would cause a greater concentration of radioactivity. Just then, a disheveled Tilly – still in her medical gown – rushes onto the bridge with her plan to release the asteroid at the right trajectory, requiring Detmer to perform a "donut" maneuver in the center of the ring's debris field. While Detmer says she cannot pilot inside the ring, Stamets volunteers to use the spore drive to get them in. Act Three Back in New Eden, Jacob brings the crew's gear to Amesha as proof that their visitors from the "north" were in fact from the "First Earth". Just then, Pike enters, maintaining the cover, explaining that Jacob attacked them in violation of their faith. Jacob continues to plead his case, saying that the others came with a starship and could take them home, to which Amesha chides him for following the ways of the "old Earth". Owosekun spots Rose holding a phaser; Pike leaps in front of the weapon, taking the blast squarely in the chest. While Jacob calls on fellow scientist Burnham to use her technology to save him, she instead asks Amesha and the others to take them to the church to "pray for another deliverance". In orbit, Discovery makes the jump into the ring's debris field. As the ship holds the asteroid in its tractor beams, Detmer performs the "donut manuever" and successfully diverts the debris, clearing the radiation enough to beam out the landing party. As a relieved Tilly enters the turbolift to return to her quarters, she is congratulated by May, who calls her "Stilly" just as the doors to the turbolift close. Down below, Burnham and Owosekun bring Pike inside the church, closing the door behind them while Jacob tries to break the doors open; just as he does, the landing party is transported away in a bright light, which Amesha attributes to the "angel". Dr. Pollard remarks to Pike that he made it, but that his ribs would feel like "a xylophone in a Klingon marching band" for a time. In her quarters, Tilly accesses her old yearbook from Musk Junior High School, class of 2247, and accesses the signatures page, recognizing "May" as May Ahearn, one of her classmates. But when she tries to find where Ahearn's quarters are, the computer does not show anyone with that name in the ship's manifest; when searching Federation records, the computer reports that May Ahearn has been deceased for five years. Act Four Pike calls Burnham to his quarters and thanks her for following his instructions despite his "impairment", to which Burnham replies that she remembers what happened the last time she did not follow her captain's orders. She admits that this made her consider what he had said about telling him anything she thought he needed to know, and reveals she had seen the "angel" on the asteroid before Pike rescued her. She had dismissed it as a hallucination at first, attributing it to being injured. Pike is convinced it is not a coincidence, with two signals and two sightings of these "angels", and that while Burnham does not ascribe divine properties to it, the people in New Eden do and would see her experience as a "revelation". He feels the new information creates new context, which could alter their perspective; Burnham then asks about Jacob, if he's entitled to some context. He and his family had sought that context for two hundred years, and they chose to lie to him. While Pike is sympathetic, he is still bound by the Prime Directive. Burnham counters that the helmet camera, and the answers it might contain to solve the mystery, was more important than the Prime Directive, and that one would have to be sacrificed to uphold the other – and only the captain could make that choice. In New Eden, Jacob enters the basement of the church where he is met by Pike, now in uniform. Pike admits that he lied to protect the other people from the truth, and that Jacob was right about him and his crew: they were from Earth, and came to Terralysium on a starship. He also explains that he is bound not to interfere with their society. Jacob disables the transmitter, accepting that he has an answer to a question he and his family had long asked, and it was enough for him to know that he was right – that he and his people weren't lost anymore. Deciding to go one step further, Pike gives Jacob a power cell in exchange for the soldier's helmet camera, and shakes his hand, hoping they will meet again; Jacob is convinced that they will. That night, Jacob hooks up the power cell to the church's electrical wiring, flooding the inside of the church with light. Back aboard Discovery, Pike examines the helmet camera footage, and stares in astonishment as he sees the "angel" in the doorway of the church... just as the video ends in static. Memorable quotes "If you're telling me that this ship can skip across the universe on a highway made of mushrooms, I kind of have to go on faith." :- Christopher Pike, to Saru, on Discovery s spore drive "Be bold. Be brave. Be courageous. Black alert." :- Christopher Pike, to the crew of the Discovery prior to his first spore jump "Let's jump." :- Christopher Pike, to the crew of the Discovery prior to his first spore jump "Why did that second signal want us to come here?" "As science officer, I would advise restraint in ascribing motivation to what are now simply unidentifiable energy bursts." " There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio... " "I know my Shakespeare, Captain. Are you suggesting that some kind of divine intervention put those people on the planet?" "I assume you're familiar with Clarke's Third Law?" "Yes, in the 20th Century, Arthur C. Clarke said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." "The law was debated by scientists and theologians alike and later reinterpreted to say 'Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God.' I have no idea how or why they're here, but I highly doubt it's by accident." "Certainly a bold interpretation, sir." :- Christopher Pike and Michael Burnham "This book is some sort of new scripture." "It might be their historical record. I'll scan the text." "Or we could look at the pictures. That was the original purpose for a window like this. To teach the gospel to those who couldn't read." :- Christopher Pike and Michael Burnham, investigating New Eden's church "Thank you for the fellowship." "Peace be with you." "And also with you." :- Christopher Pike and Amesha "Discovery will not allow a catastrophe on her watch." :- Saru "By their own account, they left Earth in 2053. They did not use a starship. That makes them pre-warp, subject to General Order 1. We cannot interfere with their natural development." "But they believe Earth and the human race were destroyed. They're wrong. Worse, the faith they cling to is a lie." "Can you prove that?" :- Christopher Pike and Michael Burnham "There were scientists among the First Saved, too. My family, for generations, we tended to that beacon. No one else knew it was here, and you found it with that incredible device. My ancestors were right, weren't they? The Earth wasn't destroyed. Mankind evolved." :- Jacob "Since the other day, when the red burst appeared in the sky, I knew you were coming. That was the light from your ship, right? Your hands, your skin unravaged by the labor we do here. You're not from Terralysium. I can see the truth in your eyes." :- Jacob "If X doesn't work, try Y, and if Y doesn't work, try Z. If Z doesn't work, try drowning your ineptitude in a Risan mai tai." :- Sylvia Tilly "For the asteroid to exit at the correct angle, I would have to execute a sustained circular drift." "A donut. You would be doing a donut in a starship!" "That's true." :- Keyla Detmer and Sylvia Tilly "Welcome back, Captain. You made it. But your ribs, they're gonna feel like the xylophone in a Klingon marching band. Consider yourself lucky to be alive." :- Tracy Pollard "Fortunately for you I was raised on Vulcan. We don't do funny." :- Michael Burnham, to Christopher Pike, after being told to not make him laugh "My entire family spent their whole lives hoping to get a confirmation that what we believed was true, and you gave me that answer, something that none of them ever got, and that is enough for me. Thank you. Because of you, we're not lost anymore." :- Jacob "How about, this power cell, with a very long lifespan, in exchange for a soldier's broken camera, circa 2053?" :- Christopher Pike Log entries * "As a child, I had what my mother called nightmares. She taught me to control my fear by drawing it, rendering fear powerless. The nightmares have returned. The same vision, again and again. I now understand its meaning and where it must lead me. In the event of my death, I have encoded it within this audio file. This may be my last entry aboard the ''Enterprise." - '''Spock', recording a personal log Background information Story and script * This episode's script didn't include the moment when Tilly hurries out of sickbay in one particular direction and disappears round the corner but then reappears going in the opposite direction. ( ) Production * Several items of costuming for this episode were purchased from suppliers rather than being created especially for the show. * This episode, the second in the run of DIS Season 2, was directed by veteran Star Trek director and actor Jonathan Frakes. Despite the early positioning of the episode, Frakes had no knowledge, as of , as to what would happen in the second season. ( ) Briefly recalling how Frakes prepared to shoot this installment, Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman stated, "I sat with Jonathan before we were doing the episode." ( ) This ultimately turned out to be the first of two episodes Frakes directed for DIS Season 2, the other being . * On , filming took place on location at Balls Falls Conservation Area Historic Village, Ontario. This location served to represent New Eden's White Church setting, including a nearby graveyard. * During production, Jonathan Frakes was instrumental in devising the moment when Tilly departs from sickbay and turns a corner but then goes in the other direction. Alex Kurtzman knew nothing about this comedic moment until he saw it in dailies. ( ) Cast and characters *Wilson Cruz is not credited as a main cast member and does not appear in this episode. However, his character, Hugh Culber, is referenced several times by Paul Stamets, who implies that he might encounter Hugh in the mycelial network. *Shazad Latif is not credited as a main cast member and does not appear in this episode. * As a result of these omissions, this episode contains the fewest names of main cast members (five) in the opening credits since , which had three. Music and sound * Jacob's distress beacon device uses the same sound effect as the Romulan coded transmission signal in . Continuity * This episode takes place shortly after . * The stardate for this episode was given in . * This episode reveals that Spock has been committed to the psychiatric ward on Starbase 5. * Christopher Pike says the would need around 150 years to cross the distance of over 51,000 light years at maximum warp. This implies a much slower maximum warp speed than 24th century Starfleet ships possess, as the was said to be able to cross 70,000 light years in about seventy-five years. This is consistent with a statement Captain Janeway makes in about starships of Kirk's time being "half as fast" as ships of the 2370s. * This is the fourth Star Trek episode dealing with the descendants of Humans who had been removed from Earth by external forces and have no knowledge of recent Human history and/or the Federation. The first was , the second was , and the third was . Only in this episode and "The Paradise Syndrome" were the original Humans removed on errands of mercy rather than subjugation. * Pike determines that the colony on Terralysium is subject to the Prime Directive despite being populated by Humans. A similar determination was made in "The Paradise Syndrome". The colonies in this episode and "The Paradise Syndrome" were considered pre-warp civilizations due to their overall technology level and lack of awareness of Earth. This was not the case for the Humans encountered in "The 37's". * This episode marks one of the rare confirmed mentions and appearances of the Beta Quadrant, with Terralysium being located there, far away from Federation territory. * After Pike commented that he needed a new ready room in , another room is now seen being used for precisely that purpose, decorated with cultural items reflecting Pike's southwestern United States heritage. * host Naomi Kyle observed that the away mission in this episode is "kind of like the classic, um, first contact; it kind of felt like we were going back to that," an observation Alex Kurtzman agreed with. ( ) Reception and aftermath * * Regarding his favourite moments from the making of this episode, Alex Kurtzman stated, "There were a couple things." He was particularly pleased with how Jonathan Frakes came up with the moment when, after rushing out the door from sickbay, Tilly hurriedly changes direction a moment later. Kurtzman called that shot "some amazing humor," a "great moment," and one of his favorite elements of the episode, recalling, "When I saw it in dailies, I was like, 'Aw, Frakes, you're so good.' But, you know, those kinds of, like, magic moments that happen are so wonderful." Another aspect of this installment that Kurtzman approved of was "seeing the dynamic between Burnham and Pike for the first time, playing out this conversation between science versus faith, and what that means." ( ) * Addressing her own favorite moments from this episode, Executive Producer Heather Kadin initially spoke about her enthusiasm for the Tilly role and then went on to say, "I also love that a member from our bridge crew got to go on the mission. I think that they're all so incredible and obviously they play a huge part in the show, and so to get to spend some time with one of them was… I loved that," an assessment that Alex Kurtzman concurred with. ( ) * Naomi Kyle approved of this installment too, remarking that, due to feeling that the away mission in this outing was harkening back to earlier first contact missions in Star Trek, "it was really great to see that." ( ) Production history * : Filming on location at Balls Falls Conservation Area Historic Village, Ontario. * : Title publicly revealed * : Premiere airdate on CBS All Access * : International release date (outside Canada and the USA) Links and references Starring * Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham * Doug Jones as Saru * Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets * Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly ;and * Anson Mount as Christopher Pike Guest starring * Sheila McCarthy as Amesha * Andrew Moodie as Jacob * Bahia Watson as Co-starring * Hannah Cheesman as Lt. Cmdr. Airiam * Emily Coutts as Lt. Keyla Detmer * Patrick Kwok-Choon as Lt. Gen Rhys * Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Joann Owosekun * Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Lt. R.A. Bryce * Raven Dauda as Dr. Tracy Pollard * Julianne Grossman as Discovery Computer * Noah Davis as Lieutenant (2053) * Kira Groulx as * Claire Qute as Teen May Hologram Uncredited co-stars * Ethan Peck as Spock References 1950; 2053; 2057; 2236; 2247; 2252; Aaron (Bible); ; All-Mother; ankh; artificial gravity; astromycology; audiophonic degradation; battery unit; beacon; Beta Quadrant; Bible; black alert; blood; bomber; ; ; ; Buddhism; basement; ; calendar; candle; California; camera; civilian; Christianity; church; ; Clarke's Third Law; class M; creators; coherent resonator; command-training program; comparative religion; cubic centimeter; ; custom; dark matter; death; deodorant; divine intervention; DNA; ; distress call; earthquake; East Fork Presbyterian Church; ; energy discharge; electricity; espresso; evolution; exam; extinction level event; faith; Federation; Federation database; Federation Standard; fellowship; fence; s; fire; First Earth; First Saved; fungi; Five-S Sprint Challenge; ; General Order 1; genetic manipulation; glass; God; gospel; graveyard; gravimetric stability; graviton beam; gravity simulator; ; Hamlet; harvest moon; heaven; helmet; ; Hinduism; Indiana; Islam; ion; ; Jesus Christ; jet; ; Judaism; Klingon; laser core sampler; Latin; life sign; light year; Luddite; ; magic; marching band; meatball; mental faculties; metreon; metric ton; ; miracle; Morse code; Moses; movie night; mushroom; Musk Junior High School; mycelium; mycelial network; navigational interface; ; New Eden; ; nightmare; non-believer; Northern Territory; nuclear bomb; nuclear cataclysm; nuclear winter; olive; orbital rings; Orion; photon torpedo; Pike's father; peace; pentacle; personal shielding; phaser; pilgrimage; pillar; power cell; power signature; Qo'noS; radioactivity; ready room; red alert; Red Angel; redshift; rescue mission; resonator; Richmond; rib; Risan mai-tai; ; saddle; San Francisco; salvation; scanning; science teacher; scientists; ; scripture; slide bolt; Shakespeare; shrine; Shinto; shuttlebay; soldier; SONAR; spaghetti; spaghetti and meatballs; spore drive; Starbase 5; Stilly; stun; stun grenade; tablet; ; teacher; Terralysium; theologian; theory; trespassing; utility bag; vision; warp drive; warp signature; ; ; White Church; Wicca; window; ; worker bee; World War III; xenoanthropology; xenoarchaeology; xylophone; yearbook; yin and yang External links * * * |next= }} de: New Eden Category:DIS episodes